ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- A cat in St. Joseph is a contender for the world's fattest feline.

Iggy the cat weighs more than 40 pounds.

"On the bathroom scale he weighs 50 pounds. We took him out to the hog scales and he weighed 46 pounds," said Joyce Kirk, Iggy's owner.

Iggy stands 14 inches tall, measures nearly 40 inches from whiskers to tail, and boasts a thickset 33-inch waistline. He is larger than most toddlers.

"I've been asked several times if he's a bobcat, and, no, he's a normal cat. We had him tested for that, and he's normal," Kirk said. "Iggy is so big that he can't clean himself, so I brush him and even use baby wipes."

Kirk said the cat's favorite pastime is eating.

"He goes through 30 pounds of food every week," Kirk said.

Iggy originally lived with Kirk's son, but the cat quickly outgrew the studio apartment.

"(My son) lived in a little studio apartment and he had Iggy declawed and fixed, and then Iggy started eating. I had a little kitten at the time, and he outgrew Christopher's apartment, so we switched cats," Kirk said.

Iggy now has plenty of room at her home. He spends most of his days looking out his bedroom window at birds he only wishes he could catch.

"He's a waddler. He's not much for running, but he tries," Kirk said.

Despite Iggy's girth, Joyce insists he is otherwise healthy and likes a whole lot of loving.

"The vet says he's perfectly healthy in spite of his weight, and that he's more active than a lot of skinny cats," Kirk said.

Iggy is now waiting to find out if he can help his owner with his amazingly large food bills. A video sent to "America's Funniest Home Videos" could win the family $10,000. He's also going to be featured on "Ripley's Believe It or Not."